Rosalea Hamilton | Enhancing PSOJ’s ‘Emancipendence’ proposal

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) ‘opened a can of worms’ by proposing to merge Emancipation Day and Independence Day holidays to create a single, extended weekend holiday period from the first Friday in August to Monday. The main opposition to their proposal is the delinking of the commemoration of two significant historical events from the actual dates they occurred. As P. J. Patterson correctly noted: “We cannot obscure or surrender the historical significance of our freedom from slavery and freedom from colonial rule.” The PSOJ’s press release on October 3, clarifying their proposal, supports this view. It said, “our goal is to enhance the impact of the commemoration of these vital historical events while also addressing the economic realities of our nation.” We agree with this goal. The problem lies in their proposal to achieve it.

DEEPENING ENGAGEMENT

Their proposal is “intended to be a strategic approach that would provide an opportunity for a deeper engagement with our history and heritage through educational programmes, cultural exhibitions, and public discussions”. This is key. Much more is needed to deepen our collective understanding of the historical significance of these holidays and how our rich history and cultural experience can drive social and economic development.

If the PSOJ’s objective is to “strengthen our national identity” and “attract tourists to participate in cultural events, concerts, and festivals, thereby boosting revenue across various sectors”, what is necessary is a well-funded and professionally organised programme of community-based activities that will unleash the creative potential of Jamaicans. Significant economic gains can be derived from community-led cultural/heritage tourism, and the development of related industries, that showcases the unique history and diverse cultural expressions in communities across Jamaica.

Pointing to the economic gains from Japan’s approach to “clustering holidays”, the PSOJ noted that “domestic travel during Golden Week increased by 8.9 per cent in 2021 compared to previous years, indicating greater engagement with national traditions.” This sounds like a justification for a week-long, extended holiday period, including August 1 and 6, keeping the historically significant two days intact. Enhanced by adequate funding and organization, an extended week of holidays can “play a crucial role in celebrating our national identity, preserving our cultural heritage, and providing well-deserved rest for our workforce”.

PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMIC CONCERNS

The PSOJ also highlighted challenges faced by businesses. They argue that the “current arrangement of having two major holidays in such proximity often results in extended periods of reduced productivity, as many workers and businesses tend to bridge the gap between these dates with additional time off. They note that the “holiday hangover”, disrupts economic momentum.

They argue that “clustering holidays and encouraging the observance of key cultural events over weekends … contributed to Singapore’s labour productivity growth averaging 3.1 per cent per year from 2000 to 2020”. This causal claim requires evidence. Available evidence from Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry suggests that the main causal factors driving their productivity growth include:

1. Productivity improvements in key sectors, such as finance, insurance, and information and communications, which benefited from innovation, investment in technology and improvements in work processes, leading to higher value-added per worker;

2. Higher capital intensity – more investments in non-residential construction, R&D and technology, enabling workers to produce more with better tools and infrastructure; and

3. Labour quality improvements due to ongoing enhancements in skills and education levels, boosting labour quality and overall productivity, supported by government policies promoting skills development and continuous education.

Singapore’s productivity growth experience is quite different from ours in Jamaica. Evidence from the Jamaica Productivity Centre suggests that Jamaica’s productivity is in perpetual decline. An extended weekend holiday period, even with adequately funded activities, is a much too simplistic approach to addressing the complex productivity growth and development challenges we face. Jamaica must address its long-standing problem of under production of capital and the related undercapitalisation of the production system. We must invest more private and public capital resources in continuous learning, problem-solving, innovation and technology to grow productivity and enhance global competitiveness.

This is urgently needed since about 77 per cent of Jamaica’s employed labour force has no training or has low skill levels (ILO Levels 1 & 2). In 2021, only 15 per cent of Jamaica’s employed labour force had certified higher level skills (ILO Levels 3 & 4). This compares to about 60 per cent of Singapore’s labour force with tertiary qualification. While higher level skills are evident in many creative/cultural activities, like music, certification of these skills based on prior learning assessment is absent in Jamaica.

There are several other important factors influencing productivity growth and economic development in Jamaica that should not be dwarfed by discussions about an extended holiday period. While productivity is necessary, it is not sufficient to drive development. The evidence suggests that these interrelated factors, including productivity growth in community-based activities that foster innovation, must grow simultaneously to enable growth with sustainable development.

STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY/LOCAL GOVERNANCE

Achieving the PSOJ’s goal of enhancing the impact of ‘Emancipendence’ holidays while addressing our economic realities will require us to reimagine government as a network of interconnected layers: the community, the parish and the country as a whole. Importantly, it will require empowered community and local authorities to provide the capital investments required to support community-based cultural/heritage events and related economic activities.

This requires constitutional reform. To achieve the PSOJ’s goal, we urgently need inclusive, joint decision-making processes that can harness more and better information to improve policy-making. This is essential to ensure that community-led cultural and economic activities, including ‘Emancipendence’ commemorations, are not thwarted by central government dictates.

Rosalea Hamilton, PhD, is founding director, Institute of Law & Economics. Send feedback to rosaleahamilton@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com